House Passes North Korea Adoption Bill

September 13, 2012

On September 11, the House of Representatives passed by voice vote a bill directing the Secretary of State to develop a comprehensive strategy for facilitating the adoption of stateless children from North Korea by United States citizens.

H.R. 1464, introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) in 2011, states that "thousands of North Korean children do not have families and are threatened with starvation and disease if they remain in North Korea or as stateless refugees in surrounding countries."

“Malnutrition, abuse, exploitation, lack of education—these are the horrors that are faced by orphans of North Korean origin who are effectively stateless and without protection,” said Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Numerous American families would like to provide caring homes to these stateless North Korean orphans,” she added.

A Senate version of the bill, introduced in 2011 by Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), has not yet been acted upon.

The text of legislation, noting differences between the House and Senate versions, is available here.